Awards season has finally come to a close after the biggest names in Hollywood came together to celebrate last night’s entertaining Oscar ceremony.

While the results were a tad predictable (as they usually are!), there were still enough laughs and emotional speeches to keep us film fans satisfied.

In what came as no big surprise to many of us, the powerful slavery drama 12 Years a Slave took centre stage by winning three Oscars, including the all-important Best Picture prize.

The film, which focuses on African-American man Solomon Northop and his twelve-year ordeal as a slave in 19th century America, saw off strong competition from American Hustle and Gravity to clinch the key accolade.

British filmmaker Steve McQueen dedicated the win to the many people who had endured slavery for centuries, while cast member and producer Brad Pitt was among those to receive a golden statuette for his involvement in producing.

The fact-based drama also won Best Adapted Screenplay for screenwriter John Ridley, while Kenyan newcomer Lupita Nyong’o overcame stern pressure from Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle) to win Best Supporting Actress for her role as cotton picker Patsey.

However, the most awarded film on the night was the sci-fi blockbuster Gravity, as it cruised to a magnificent seven gongs, including a Best Director success for filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón.

Additionally, the 3D hit also scored wins for Editing, Cinematography, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, Visual Effects and Original Score for composer Steven Price.

Elsewhere, the factual drama Dallas Buyers Club fared well with a hat-trick of wins, including two for chief stars Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto.

McConaughey overcame the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf of Wall Street) and Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave) to clinch Best Actor for his powerful performance as AIDS-stricken electrician Ron Woodruff.

During his speech, he thanked God “because that’s who I look up to”.

“He’s graced my life with opportunities that I know are not of my hand or any other human hand.”

Co-star Leto comfortably secured the Best Supporting Actor prize for his role as trans woman Rayon and thanked his mother, who accompanied him to the awards, “for teaching me to dream” and dedicated his award to “those who have ever felt injustice because of who they are, or who you love”.

Having dominated all the major awards guilds, Cate Blanchett eased her way to a second Oscar win for her leading role as fragile socialite Jeanette “Jasmine” Francis in the Woody Allen drama Blue Jasmine.

Elsewhere, Disney’s Frozen landed two Oscar wins for Best Animated Film and a predicted Best Original Song success for the chart-topping hit “Let it Go”, while Baz Luhrmann’s lavish adaptation of The Great Gatsby scored double prizes for Best Production Design and Best Costume Design.

Meanwhile, Spike Jonze overcame the likes of David O. Russell and Woody Allen to land the Best Original Screenplay gong for his work on the sci-fi romance Her.

The Italian drama The Great Beauty was the recipient of Best Foreign Language Film while there were also victories for 20 Feet from Stardom (Best Documentary Feature), The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life (Best Documentary Short Subject), Helium (Best Short Film – Live Action), and Mr. Hublot (Best Short Film – Animated).

However, it was a bad night for other Best Picture contenders, as leading nominee American Hustle had the rare misfortune of being shutout completely.

The crime comedy becomes only the third film after Gangs of New York in 2003 and True Grit in 2012 to go empty-handed from a dominant ten nominations, which included four for acting.

Fellow Best Picture contenders Captain Phillips, Nebraska, Philomena and The Wolf of Wall Street also went home empty-handed from a combined 21 noms!

Meanwhile, chat show host Ellen DeGeneres provided many laughs throughout the evening, with one of the main highlights being an epic celebrity selfie with stars like Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, and Jennifer Lawrence, that broke Twitter records for the most retweeted photo ever.

The night also saw Pink perform a musical tribute to The Wizard of Oz to commemorate the film’s 75th anniversary, while Bette Midler sang a rendition of her classic song “Wind Beneath my Wings” in tribute to those who had passed away in the last year.

The full list of Oscar winners are…

BEST PICTURE
12 YEARS A SLAVE

BEST DIRECTOR
Alfonso Cuarón, GRAVITY

BEST ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett, BLUE JASMINE

BEST ACTOR
Matthew McConaughey, DALLAS BUYERS CLUB

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Lupita Nyong’o, 12 YEARS A SLAVE

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Jared Leto, DALLAS BUYERS CLUB

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
12 YEARS A SLAVE (John Ridley)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
HER (Spike Jonze)

BEST FILM EDITING
GRAVITY

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
GRAVITY

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
THE GREAT GATSBY

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
THE GREAT GATSBY

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
DALLAS BUYERS CLUB

BEST SOUND MIXING
GRAVITY

BEST SOUND EDITING
GRAVITY

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
GRAVITY

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
GRAVITY (Steven Price)

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
FROZEN (“Let It Go”)

BEST ANIMATED FILM
FROZEN

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
THE GREAT BEAUTY (Italy)

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
20 FEET FROM STARDOM

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
THE LADY IN NUMBER 6: MUSIC SAVED MY LIFE

BEST SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
HELIUM

BEST SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
MR. HUBLOT

Thanks once again to those of you who followed this year’s race with me.

Awards season remains an important factor in my film passion, and I look forward to 2015’s one with great anticipation!